F1 Legends - Mika Hakkinen - 720p

That Formula 1's most successful ever exponent, Michael Schumacher, rates Mika Hakkinen as his toughest ever adversary tells you all you need to know about Finland's only two-time World Champion. He was known as the 'Flying Finn' and for anyone who raced against him at his peak it was no wonder.

Career Stats

Race Starts - 161
Pole Positions - 26
Victories - 20
Podiums - 51
World Championships - 2 (1998,1999)
Teams - Team Lotus, McLaren

Committed, fearless and, above all else, stunningly quick, the immensely popular and likeable Hakkinen went toe-to-toe with Schumacher at a time when the German was undeniably at the very peak of his powers and came out on top on more than his fair share of occasions. His back-to-back titles of 1998-1999 were the prized rewards for a decade-long career at motorsport's top level that while only fully delivering on the Helsinki-born star's promise in its later years, provided its highlights throughout.

Like a number of drivers who have gone on to become multiple race winners, it took Hakkinen the best part of 100 races before he finally stood atop an F1 podium, yet many had rated him for years - no more so than McLaren chief Ron Dennis. The Englishman had signed him on the back of promising early showings at Lotus in 1991-1992 and, after biding his time as a test driver, the young Finn was promoted to a race seat alongside the legendary Ayrton Senna towards the end of 1993. He made an immediate impression too; announcing his arrival by outqualifying the sport's long-established one-lap king at the very first attempt.



Hakkinen's initial years at McLaren coincided with one of the least fruitful periods of the Woking squad's illustrious history and a handful of podium finishes were the best he could achieve in his first three seasons. The Finn was lucky to survive, let alone continue racing, after a horrific accident in the final round of 1995 in Australia after a tyre failure pitched him into a concrete wall and medics had to perform an emergency track-side tracheotomy.

That he returned to racing was an achievement in itself; that he came back stronger and within two years was winning races was extraordinary. As McLaren's engine partnership with Mercedes-Benz began to bear the first fruits of success, Hakkinen signed off from 1997 with his maiden victory at Jerez and then kicked off the next season with another win in Australia, although both were unfortunately overshadowed by team order rows.

A more emphatic victory in Brazil followed and a succession of strong results saw Hakkinen dictate the World Championship race in the first half of the season. Schumacher and Ferrari came charging back though and heading into the penultimate round and the former F3 rivals were suddenly tied on points. Two-time champion Schumacher was now favourite, but Hakkinen arguably saved his best two performances until last - winning at both the Nurburgring and Suzuka to deservedly seal his maiden title.



With both driver and car at the peak of their powers, Hakkinen became just the seventh driver to achieve back-to-back titles the following year although, with main threat Schumacher sidelined by a broken leg from mid-season, he perhaps made harder work of it than he should up against Ferrari number two Eddie Irvine. Indeed in a rare show of emotion after spinning out of the lead at Monza towards the end of the season, he theatrically threw his glove down on the ground as he exited the car and was then caught on camera under the trees crouching down crying into his race helmet. But the determined Finn had previously shown he could come back stronger from adversity and duly recovered and eventually clinched the title with another win in a Suzuka finale.

After a sluggish start to 2000 saw Schumacher threaten to walk away with the title, Hakkinen and McLaren fought their way back into contention and in one of the greatest overtaking moves of all time at Spa the Finn passed both Schumacher and a lapped BAR of Ricardo Zonta in the closing stages in the braking zone of Les Combes, completely bamboozling his German rival to seal a famous win. The title fight was again settled at Suzuka and the two greatest drivers of the era waged an intense weekend-long battle for supremacy, although Schumacher emerged victorious this time.

That epic Suzuka battle would mark something of watershed in the rivalry between the greatest two drivers of their era. While Schumacher went on to rewrite the record books over the following four years, Hakkinen, despite being little more than three months older than his great generational rival, would soon be winding down his career. Although 2001 would produce wins in both Britain and the USA - his penultimate race - he felt his motivation had started to wane and he required a season off.



Replaced by young Finnish compatriot Kimi Raikkonen for 2002, Hakkinen would however never return to an F1 circuit bar a one-off test appearance back with McLaren in 2006. Three years in the DTM series - with typically race-winning success - followed but Mika will forever be firmly associated with F1, a sport on which he left an undeniable mark.